Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the writing team behind Spider-Man: Homecoming and Vacation, are being eyed to direct Dungeons and Dragons, the forthcoming film based on the wildly popular tabletop role playing game franchise. The pair are no stranger to nostagic properties; besides the projects they have already done, Goldstein and Daley are part of a writers’ room that is intended to develop a cinematic universe around properties like M.A.S.K. and Visionaries. That universe is owned by Hasbro, whose AllSpark pictures is behind the long-in-development Dungeons & Dragons adaptation. Deadline broke the news, but had little in the way of details.
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The trade said only that things are “coming together quickly” for the film, which would be the first directorial effort by the pair following the release of Game Night. Paramount has been working on a new Dungeons & Dragons movie, going so far as to announce a release date in July 2021. Recent reports suggested that plans for Dungeons & Dragons could finally be moving forward after writer Michael Gillio turned in a well-received updated draft of a script for the film. While the script was not finished at the time, it did appear to give the movie some forward momentum at long last.
What’s more, Paramount is apparently seeking to recruit some major A-list talent to star in Dungeons & Dragons. Rumor has it Paramount is hoping to land Will Smith, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Foxx, Joel Edgerton, Dave Bautista, Jeremy Renner, or Johnny Depp as its male lead for Dungeons & Dragons. We’ll note that Diesel has publicly stated he’s a fan of D&D and even played in a one-shot DMed by Critical Role‘s Matthew Mercer. We’ll also add that we’re a bit disappointed that the list doesn’t include actor Joe Manganiello, who is perhaps the biggest ambassador for D&D in recent years.
It’s unclear whether the Dungeons & Dragons movie will tap into the deep lore of the D&D game, which has existed since the early 1970s. The first Dungeons & Dragons movie (starring Marlon Wayans and Jeremy Irons) was a critical flop and seemingly took little from the game outside its name. Later made for TV sequels adapted more of the lore and trappings of D&D, but still weren’t that well-received.
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